If you’re looking for a memorable railfan experience, Hot Spots is your go-to guide for train-watching throughout the U.S. and Canada. This special issue from Trains magazine tells you everything you need to know to be a great train-watcher — railfan basics, travel tips, and dozens of must-see locations from coast to coast. Order your […]
Feature Articles Steam’s Last, Highest Outpost By Gordon Glattenberg Ride the locomotive on Colorado & Southern’s Climax Branch to the top of America’s standard-gauge trackage What’s in a Photograph? C&NW at Sioux City Stockyards, 1947 By Jerry A. Pinkepank Extensive rail facilities were required to support the Iowa town’s meatpacking plants “Booming” in Modern Times […]
Steam’s Lost Empire takes you back to the classic era of railroading when steam locomotives ruled the rails. The 124-page special issue features classic articles from the archives of Trains magazine including riveting inside accounts from railfans and railroaders who worked the trains as well as dramatic black-and-white and color photographs. Order your copy today […]
Feature Articles Santa Fe’s Super C Speed Tests By Steve Patterson Before launching the world’s fastest freight, the Santa Fe ran three experimental trains Prescription for Prosperity By Kevin P. Keefe The Rexall Train’s nationwide tour in 1936 was good medicine for a nation struggling to shed the Great Depression Surprises on the Siskiyou By […]
Feature Articles Wyoming Steam Parade By R. Clifford Black IV In 1953, a boy and his dad thrilled to the constant mainline action of Union Pacific’s Big Boys, Challengers, and Northerns What’s in a Photograph? Double RS2s on the Laurentian By Jerry A. Pinkepank Delaware & Hudson’s Montreal—New York City day train pulls into Plattsburgh, […]
Feature Articles The Great Northeast Railroad Debacle By Don Phillips One of history’s great scams — Penn Central — caused a crisis whose solution led to the rebirth of American railroading See photos from Conrail’s early years, as well as from “Big Blue” predecessors Penn Central, EL, CNJ, Reading, L&HR, and PRSL. Diversity and Adversity: […]
Feature Articles “Mr. L&N” By Ron Flanary and Charles Buccola Charlie Castner — railfan, photographer, author, preservationist, and railroad professional — has studied and promoted the Louisville & Nashville Railroad for more than 80 years The Prosperity Special: Symbol of the 1920s By Don L. Hofsommer A mass movement of new Southern Pacific locomotives across […]
Big Steam is Back features 11 well-known locomotives from across the United States and their individual journeys to restoration. This special 100-page edition includes the restored Norfolk & Western Class J No. 611, widely considered to be the best and most powerful locomotive ever built, the colorful Southern Pacific 4449, and an update on the […]
Feature Articles Chicago in the 1930s By Photos by William Ranke; Text by Mike Raia At a time when most rail photographers were taking static “engine pictures,” one man was capturing the dynamic scene in the Railroad Capital Train Time at Los Angeles, 1960 By R. David Read My stint as “wire chief” at LAUPT […]
The 124-page special issue, Great Trains Freight, revisits the classic age of railroading when freight trains carried America to unprecedented prosperity. Read about way freights, coal trains, and hotshots on the nation’s great railroads, including the Santa Fe, Milwaukee Road, Pennsylvania, Illinois Central, and more. Order your copy today » […]
Feature Articles Hudson Valley Hot Spot By David W. Salter Summer 1952 was the perfect time for steam and diesel variety on New York Central’s Hudson Division See video clips from the Sunday River Productions archives of New York Central steam in action. “Somebody’ll die on you, for sure!” By Chuck Larrabee A prediction from […]
Feature Articles Second Chance at Steam By Bob Trennert and Gordon Glattenberg Two teenagers living in dieselized Los Angeles thought they’d missed their shot at Southern Pacific steam — until they discovered it was still on the job around the Bay Area Watch film footage from the Herron Rail Video archives of Southern Pacific steam […]
